Fur Industry Worth $40 Billion

The fur trade industry is reported to be worth more than $40 billion. In comparison, this is about the same amount as the global Wi-Fi market.

Figures were recently released by the International Fur Federation, which shows that sales of products containing fur are estimated at $35.8 billion, while farming is valued at $7.8 billion. More than one million people are employed by this growing industry.

Fur, which has always been a controversial topic, has seen a resurgence on the catwalk in recent seasons. While Italian fashion houses have always been a fan, designers from New York, Paris, and London have also embraced it. Designers such as Christopher Kane, Phillip Lim and Lanvin featured fur in their most recent collections.

IFF CEO Mark Oaten is confident that fur will continue to be a mainstay in the fashion world. He told The Telegraph, “Its easy to get caught up in the emotions that the business can generate, but the truth is that the fur trade is an economic cornerstone in Europe and beyond. Much of the fashion and increasingly the soft furnishings world relies on fur – and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.”

Although the industry is growing, many have spoken out about the fur industry’s methods, with PETA among them.

“No matter what the industry has to say for itself, ripping the fur from animals who did not want to die just for a coat can never be defensible. The fur industry is building on killing beautiful animals through gassing, electrocution, stomping on their heads and other cruel methods, and so it had to rely on tricks such as dyeing fur, sneaking it into collars and cuffs and giving it away to designers and students in order to promote it,” a PETA spokesperson told Vogue UK.